Escala de Autoeficacia para la Depresión en Adolescentes: Psychometric Properties with Type 1 Diabetes Youth

Resumen

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) adolescents have higher depression rates than controls. Youth have different levels of self- efficacy to cope with depression. Self-efficacy has been proposed as a mediator of therapeutic changes during depression treatment. Few instruments to assess self-efficacy for depression are available. None have been validated with T1D youth. We examined the psychometric properties of the Escala de Autoeficacia para la Depresión en Adolescentes (EADA) in a sample of 51 T1D youth (aged 12-17 years old), who enrolled in a depression treatment study (IRB#1112-005). At intake, adolescents and one parent completed several measures. Youth completed the EADA, a 28-item measure of specific self-efficacy beliefs related to coping with activities, cognitions, feelings, and situations commonly faced by adolescents when depressed. We used Cronbach’s alpha to estimate the internal consistency of the EADA, and Pearson’s correlation to assess its concurrent and construct validity. We obtained an internal consistency of .93 for the EADA total score, with corrected-item total correlations ranging from .36 (Sleep normally) to .75 (Carry out new recreational activities). As expected, EADA scores were negatively and significantly (p≤.05) associated with self-reports of depression and anxiety symptoms, suicide ideation, hopelessness, helplessness, self-esteem/guilt problems, depression-related cognitive alterations, hypoglycemic symptoms, and problems in quality of life. EADA scores were positively related to youth’s life satisfaction, self-efficacy for diabetes, self-care behaviors, and perceptions about the quality of group therapy climate and family social support. Our findings document the reliability and the validity of this measure when used with Puerto Rican youth with T1D.